Phoenix Suns fire assistants after dismissing Igor Kokoskov

By Arizona Sports | April 23, 2019 at 2:55 pmUPDATED: April 23, 2019 at 3:18 pm

Phoenix Suns GM James Jones sits during an interview with The Doug & Wolf Show on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station on Feb. 11, 2019. (Arizona Sports/Matt Layman)

The Phoenix Suns dismissed head coach Igor Kokoskov on Monday night following a 19-63 season, and on Tuesday, the rest of the coaching staff was let go, 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s John Gambadoro learned.

Gambadoro reports that before Kokoskov was fired, adding new members to the staff and assigning new roles was discussed. Kokoskov was open to the idea, per Gambadoro.

Prunty was formerly the interim head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks after Jason Kidd was fired. He led the Bucks to a 21-16 regular season record and a seven-game series loss to the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. He has coached or served in some capacity with at least five other NBA organizations.

Williamson played 12 seasons in the NBA and was formerly an assistant with the Sacramento Kings and Orlando Magic.

McMillan played for ASU and is the son of Indiana Pacers head coach Nate McMillan. The younger McMillan is a former New Orleans Pelicans player development coach and assistant coach.

Staudt was a pro personnel scout for the Magic and an advanced scout for the Trail Blazers and Rockets before joining the Suns.

The Suns hired Prunty, Williamson, McMillan and Staudt all last offseason. That means that they, like Kokoskov, have served in the organization for only one season, and are now fellow one-and-done victims.

The front office’s basketball operations department is led by GM James Jones and newly-hired executive Jeff Bower, whose job title is senior vice president of basketball operations.

In a press release officially announcing the dismissal of Kokoskov, Jones said, “After extensive evaluation, I determined it is best to move in a different direction with our head coaching position.”